Description

Randall Buth
Brian Schultz

 

Designed for Reading Fluency

Because we know that aural exposure to the language is absolutely necessary for the internalization of biblical Hebrew and fluent reading, it is central to our curricula, not an optional extra.  Now Jonah: Audio Q & A is available as a powerful companion for any biblical Hebrew curriculum using Jonah as the base text, including Living Biblical Hebrew: Introduction Part One.  Note: it is included in its entirety in Living Biblical Hebrew: Jonah (beta).

Jonah: Audio Q & A is a powerful resource for helping students gain the required skills for fluent reading.  Research shows that in fluent reading, the brain accesses the meaning of a text only after it has ‘converted’ the symbols (alphabet) into sounds.  These sounds need not be audible, but are nevertheless ‘heard silently’ within one’s brain. Without ‘hearing’ what one is reading, one cannot read fluently.  The ability to read fluently, therefore, is dependent upon one’s ability to hear the language at the normal rate of speech and understand it.

Unfortunately, most biblical Hebrew classes do not offer tools that help develop the student’s ability to understand biblical Hebrew when read out loud to them.  Neither does rote listening to a text over and over (such as the book of Jonah) build the required listening fluency. Thus the pedagogical need for a resource like Jonah: Audio Q & A.

Jonah: Audio Q & A takes the narrative text of Jonah read in Hebrew, breaks it down into its smallest comprehensible clauses, and then using a Question & Answer approach, asks questions about each clause followed by their answers, all in biblical Hebrew.  It is purposefully in audio format only, to force the student not to rely on a written text but to access meaning through listening only.

What is amazing is that with sufficient aural Comprehensible Input appropriate to their level, biblical Hebrew students can internalize the language even if they struggle grasping the explanations in their first year grammar book.

Because we know that aural exposure to the language is absolutely necessary for the internalization of biblical Hebrew and fluent reading, it is central to our curricula, not an optional extra.  Now Jonah: Audio Q & A  is available as a powerful companion for any biblical Hebrew curriculum using Jonah as the base text, including Living Biblical Hebrew: Introduction Part One.  [Note: it is included in Living Biblical Hebrew: Jonah (beta).]

 

Features

  • Readings Audio from the Book of Jonah: Each verse of the narrative portion of Jonah is broken up into clauses or units of meaning.
  • Comprehension Questions Audio: An hour and a half of audio providing comprehension questions and answers, all in biblical Hebrew, ensuring that learners understand each clause, and providing invaluable Comprehensible Input for increased listening ease and reading fluency.
  • Thematic Verb Audio: Each clause containing a thematic verb (vayyiqtol) in the book of Jonah is read out loud, followed by the same clause read with its verb in the simple past tense (qatal). Juxtaposing the two forms aurally in this way allows you to automatically associate and internalize them together without needing to decipher or parse the verbs.

 

Format & Purchase:

Jonah: Audio Q & A is an online resource with streaming audio.  To purchase, click “Add to Cart” and then “Checkout” (in the right column).  In the check-out process, please be sure to use a correct email address. Proceed until you click the button “Place Order.”  You will first receive an email that your order has been received. Then, if this is your first order of any of our online resources, you will receive another email after several hours with the subject “Biblical Language Center Online: New user account”.  This will provide 1) the URL where you will be able to access the online material, 2) your user name required to login, and 3) a temporary password that you will be asked to change when you first login. If you already have a user account, Jonah: Audio Q & A will appear as part of your BLC online resources when you log in.